Baseball terminology used throughout society

The Game Room
1

Those that know me know that I’m a huge fan of just about every sport, and not just “American” sports. I love football (soccer) and follow the top leagues religiously. But baseball is the greatest and most perfect game on earth so I always find myself defending it from its detractors.

Recently I was having a debate with a fellow soccer fan on which sport is more culturally influential worldwide. It was a silly debate, and even I know there are far more factors in favor of soccer. But I was going to at least try to justify baseball. I first used the baseball cap as an example. You can find a baseball cap for just about any team of any sport worldwide. I have baseball caps for golf and tennis. I have multiple NBA, NHL, NFL and college team baseball caps. I also have Real Madrid, PSG and Flamengo caps, plus one for the Indian Premier League cricket team from Mumbai.

I next moved onto terminology, and how baseball terms are used by English speakers in all sorts of social and professional situations, unlike any other sport. Of course none of this got me anywhere in the debate, but I thought it would be a great idea to come up with a list. So I’ll start with a few:

“go to bat for” - My boss always tells me that she’ll go to bat for me in terms of raises and promotions

“on deck” - After this presentation, the CFO is on deck with the financials

“screwball” - screwball comedy

“curveball” - I didn’t expect that curveball question in the interview

“lowball” - I low-balled him on my offer for the car

“touch base” - let’s touch base on the analysis before we meet the vendor

“swing for the fences” - He always swings for the fences but fails miserably

“struck out” - I really struck out on my date with Laura last night

I’m sure I’ll think of a few more, but please add more

2

“hit a home run” for a major accomplishment

“was born on third base but thought he hit a triple” Thanks to Anne Richards (not sure it counts, but I like it too much to leave it off)

“no one bats 1000” great expression

3

I’ve heard British and Australian movie characters say “in the ballpark”.

4

“softball” - an easy question or task

“hardball” - the opposite of “softball”; to be tough on someone

“first/second/third base” - you know!

5

Is “lowball” necessarily derived from baseball?

How about:

Three strikes law (usually in terms of, a third felony results in a longer jail term)

“Triple Play” used in terms of getting three things at once (e.g. the Xfinity/Comcast TV, Internet, Phone combination)

6

“Out of left field” for something unexpected or just plain weird

“Big leagues” for moving up to the top tier versus “bush league” for… not

“Closer” for someone who closes deals. Though this one might run the other direction.

“Mendoza line”: I’ve only heard this a couple of times, usually around primary season in politics

“in your wheelhouse”

7

I wasn’t sure about that one, but you may be right.

Some others:

backstop - used often in finance circles

bush league - low class

8

Closer - in sales especially, for someone who finalizes the deal

Ace- someone who is the best at what they do

Southpaw - a left handed person

Bush League - and act or behavior that is amateurish or subpar

ETA: got ninja’d on bush league!!!

9

“Extra innings,” for something that’s running long.

10

Twice! And on closer!

Denny’s and many others use “grand slam” in non-baseball contexts.

11

I second the questioning of “lowball” having a baseball origin.

Standing in our midst, though, so obvious we’re blind to it: the universal metaphor for depths of romantic intimacy - first base, second base, third base, and home run.

You win. Your friend’s argument is invalid.

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Rain check

Doubleheader.

13

“It’s the bottom of the ninth” = this is the last chance.

Not really baseball terminology, but a mangled quotation from baseball that has made the jump to the wider culture: “Nice guys finish last” (attributed to Leo Durocher)

14

Tough call. “Grand slam” comes from card games (I looked it up) whence baseball got it. However, I assume most cultural references are supposed to reference baseball.

15

I hadn’t heard of it in baseball context, but thought it might have been used in the past due to one specific quote from a sit-com.

In Cheers, Robin Colcord (iirc) offered to let Sam but back the bar for $1. Somehow, he didn’t have a dollar and scrounged up some change that totaled less than the asking price. Robin (or maybe one of his people) accepted the change and Sam responded with “I low-balled him!” Since Sam was a former pitcher, I assumed it was some old baseball expression for a low pitch.

16

Grand slam is also used in tennis and golf.

17

I would wager that “closer” and “ace” went the other way, from the culture at large to baseball.

18

“off base” or “way off base” - very wrong, out of bounds of decent behavior

“rhubarb” - a fight or argument. This usage originated in baseball broadcasting.

“a new ballgame” - a fresh start. This may have derived from other sports.

“Lou Gehrig’s disease” - amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (I think I spelled that right)

“slider” - a small hamburger (Yeah, I know this usage doesn’t come from baseball, but I couldn’t resist.)

19

The very first words in any ballgame - “Play ball,” meaning to commence something, or meaning to cooperate in an acceptable manner.

“Pinch hitter” in the sense of a person who fills in for a role, esp. temporarily or unexpectedly.

“Step up to the plate” in the general sense of presenting oneself at the appropriate time to do a job, esp. a challenging one.

“Batting average” in the general sense of the performance of an individual, group, or effort.

“Double play” in the sense of accomplishing two things at once.

“Leadoff” in the sense of being the one to commence an effort, or “leadoff hitter” as the person or organization that does so.

“It’s a brand new ballgame” in the sense of a competition or effort being dramatically changed or restarted by virtue of a major alternation or change in circumstances.

“Cover the bases” in the sense of being prepared for all contingencies.

“Small ball” in the sense of attempting to achieve success by making a series of small gains.

“Whiff” in the sense of completely missing an opportunity or making a failed effort. Baseball borrowed the term from English when it meant simply a gust of air, but it came back in this sense.

“Switch hitter” meaning either a person who can perform two functions or skills, or a bisexual person.

“Right off the bat” in the sense of happening immediately or at the beginning of something.

I’m not sure if baseball didn’t take “closer” from the language, rather than the other way around. “Closer” is a relatively new baseball term; when I started watching baseball in the early 80s, the term was not used that I can remember, and the preferred words for a relief ace were, well, relief ace, or “fireman.” “Closer” came into common use only in the 90s, as relief stars began being used primarily in ninth inning save situations, itself a recent innovation. When Lee Smith started 75% of his games in the ninth inning in 1994, just 20 years ago, that was the first time in the history of major league baseball a regularly used pitcher had ever done that.

Conversely, “closer” in the sense of a person who is successful at completing a business deal certainly predates the 1990s. The term is used in the play “Glengarry Glen Ross,” written in 1983-1984 (in fact, it is used in the very first speech, by Shelley Levine) and clearly it’s not meant to be a brand new term. (Note I don’t mean the use of the term by the Alec Baldwin character in the film; that appears only in the film version. The stage version uses the term, too.)

20

Recollections from 6th grade follows:

1st base - A kiss.

2nd base - A cheap feel, boobs, assuming she had any.

3rd base - Oh my!

All the way. Oh My (squared)! Never happen. No one would believe you, or there would be serious doubt, but giggles all around.